Whispering in Wattle -Boughs
by Adam Lindsay Gordon
OH, gaily sings the bird! and the wattle-boughs are stirred
And rustled by the scented breath of Spring;
Oh, the dreary wistful longing! Oh, the faces that are thronging!
Oh, the voices that are vaguely whispering!
Oh, tell me, father mine, ere the good ship crossed the brine,
On the gangway one mute handgrip we exchanged,
Do you, past the grave, employ, for your stubborn reckless boy,
Those petitions that in life were ne’er estranged?
Oh, tell me, sister dear—parting word and parting tear
Never passed between us: let me bear the blame—
Are you living, girl, or dead? bitter tears since then I’ve shed
For the lips that lisped with mine a mother’s name.
Oh, tell me, ancient friend, ever ready to defend
In our boyhood, at the base of life’s long hill,
Are you waking yet or sleeping? Have you left this vale of weeping,
Or do you, like your comrade, linger still?
Oh, whisper, buried love, is there rest and peace above?—
There is little hope or comfort here below;
On your sweet face lies the mould, and your bed is strait and cold—
Near the harbour where the sea-tides ebb and flow.
All silent—they are dumb—and the breezes go and come
With an apathy that mocks at man’s distress;
Laugh, scoffer, while you may! I could bow me down and pray
For an answer that might stay my bitterness.
Oh, harshly screams the bird, and the wattle-bloom is stirred;
There’s a sullen weird-like whisper in the bough:
‘Aye, kneel and pray and weep, but HIS BELOVED SLEEP
CAN NEVER BE DISTURBED BY SUCH AS THOU!’
A few random poems:
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Туча
- In Due Observance Of An Ancient Rite by William Wordsworth
- Юргис Балтрушайтис – Цветок
- Lines on Curll poem – Alexander Pope
- Duckweed Pond by Wang Wei
- You Can Have It by Philip Levine
- Владимир Британишский – Фет в кирасирском полку
- The Scarecrow by Ross D Tyler
- Gray Room by Wallace Stevens
- I Remembered by Sara Teasdale
- Огюст Барбье – Чимароза
- A Sonnet Occasioned by the Bad Weather Which Hindered the Sports at New-Market in January, 1616 by William Drummond
- On Beer
- The Madness Of King Goll by William Butler Yeats
- Владимир Орлов – Кому что снится?
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Николай Заболоцкий – Генеральская дача
- Николай Заболоцкий – Футбол
- Николай Заболоцкий – Это было давно
- Николай Заболоцкий – Движение
- Николай Заболоцкий – Дождь
- Николай Заболоцкий – Детство
- Николай Заболоцкий – Цирк
- Николай Заболоцкий – Читайте, деревья, стихи Гезиода
- Николай Заболоцкий – Человек в воде
- Николай Заболоцкий – Царица мух
- Николай Заболоцкий – Болезнь
- Николай Заболоцкий – Битва с предками
- Николай Заболоцкий – Бетховен
- Николай Заболоцкий – Бегство в Египет
- Николай Заболоцкий – Баллада Жуковского
- Николай Языков – Жизни баловень счастливый
- Николай Языков – Землетрясенье
- Николай Языков – Записки А. С. Дириной
- Николай Языков – Я. П. Полонскому (Благодарю тебя за твой подарок милой…)
- Николай Языков – Вторая присяга
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833 – 1870) was an Australian or British-Australian poet, horseman, police officer and politician. He is considered to be one of the first national Australian poets.